Slaying Uncommon Angels
by shinytinfoil
Summary: A case hits home for Olivia Benson in more ways than one. OliviaCasey Novak. If it offends, do not read.
1. Prolouge

Okay. This is my first ever slash-fic, and also my first Law and Order: SVU fic, but I saw the episode which introduces the character of ADA Casey Novak, and the story just clicked into place.   
  
Title: Slaying Uncommon Angels  
  
This is an Olivia/Casey story. If you find that offensive, maybe you shouldn't read it.  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Regina and Ashely. I make no claim to Olivia, Casey, Eliot, Fin, Munch, Cragen, or any other characters associated with Law and Order: SVU, which is, by-the-by, a fabulous television show. Don't sue me.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter One: Regina  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
He was everywhere, the knife biting into her flesh like so many rattlesnake teeth. Regina Novak had been bitten by a rattlesnake once. She'd nearly lost a leg.  
  
Now she was afraid of losing her life.  
  
Screams sliced through her pain-induced haze, echoing female screams that cut through her faster than the knife did. Images flickered before her eyes like a bad horror movie, but this was real. Everyone was dying. Everyone, including herself.  
  
Her body unable to function through the shock and pain, she lay curled on her side, blood pooling on the white carpet around her like a dark red mockery of a halo, every breath a sharp inhalation that took far more energy than she knew she had.  
  
Regina realized that the screams next to her had stopped, and nearly died from despair.  
  
Then the knife bit into the sole of her foot, a testing cut, but Gina had passed her pain threshold long ago, and she didn't even twitch. His face swam into her vision, fingers slick against her throat as he scrambled to locate a pulse.  
  
Then came the sirens, the blessed sirens, that reached her ears even over the stubborn pounding of her heart. His face, eerie beauty suddenly contorted in fear, disappeared, and she heard the fire escape rattle as he climbed out of the window.  
  
With a Herculean effort, she raised herself onto one hand, nearly fainting as the deep slash in her palm dug into the carpet, and pulled herself across the short distance to where Ashely lay.  
  
But when she feebly shook Ashely's shoulder, the petite blond didn't respond. Crying out hopelessly in anguish, she dropped her head onto a chest in which the heart had ceased to beat.   
  
Wrapping her arms around Ashely's slim waist, Gina Novak closed her eyes and waited for death.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Mmmk, people. That's what's known as an introduction, or a prolouge, if you will. A little bit darker than my usual writings, and so I would appreciate reviews.   
  
An explanation on who Regina is will follow in the next chapter, which I will post if you review to my satisfaction, which means press the little rectangle and tell me what you like. I do accept anonymous reviews, but if you use them to insult me I will consider you a coward of the highest degree. Yes, it's happened to me before. Once bitten... 


	2. Mirror Images

Okay, this next chapter posted in honor of my first two reviewers, svuFan and Julie. Thanks, people! 'Preciate it!  
  
All the rest of the story is in the viewpoint of either Olivia or Casey. It'll tell you before the chapter begins.  
  
Disclaimer: I *pout* do not own SVU. I simply obsess. I also lay no claim to tic-tacs.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Two: Olivia  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Suppressing a growl, Detective Olivia Benson tilted her head back and shook three or four white tic-tacs out of their annoying little plastic container, but the strange mixture of mint and vanilla did no good- the bad taste in her mouth had nothing to do with her taste buds.  
  
"Six," she spat, anger burning away her nausea at the sight. "Six girls. Bastard."  
  
"We'll get him," Eliot Stabler, her partner, promised, as much to himself as to Olivia, his absolute faith in that statement sending her anger down a much more productive road. Olivia stopped thinking about punching something, and started thinking about catching the creep who'd done this.  
  
The paramedics pronounced another one, noting the time carefully on their clipboards, Olivia and Eliot standing in the doorway, useless until the coroner showed up.  
  
One of the paramedics cried out, and dropped his clipboard on the floor, hurriedly pulling one young woman onto her back, detaching her from another woman whose blond hair was fanned out like a fallen halo. "We got a live one!" They began their well-rehearsed drill, checking blood pressure and searching for major injuries.  
  
Olivia took a step forward, their worried excitement infectious, and stopped cold as she caught sight of a tumble of auburn hair half-obscuring a delicately boned face. "My God, Eliot. It's Casey Novak."  
  
"You know her?" one of the paramedics looked up at her, though she continued with the steady rhythm of her chest compressions.  
  
"Her name is Casey Novak," Olivia said, horrified at the emptiness in the ADA's staring eyes. It was rare that she ever came across a live victim in this bad of a condition, much less that victim being someone she knew, someone she was growing rather fond of.  
  
The only female paramedic on the team stuck her face in front of Casey's and began yelling. "Miss Novak! Can you hear me? Miss Novak!"  
  
"She's lost a lot of blood," the head 'medic muttered, and, on cue, one of the others raced for the ambulance, returning seconds later with an IV bag filled with red liquid.   
  
As they inserted the IV into Casey's pale, pale arm, Eliot pulled Olivia out of the room. "We should stay out of the way, let them do their jobs," he muttered, nearly as visibly shaken as his partner, and he sagged against a wall.  
  
Racked with nervous energy, all too aware that their fledgling ADA could be dying in the next room, Olivia paced.  
  
"Bad one?" a female voice said from the end of the hall, and Olivia turned to see... Casey Novak, walking briskly towards them in her impeccable business suit.  
  
"But, you're in there," Olivia said lamely, gesturing towards the room. Eliot, equally as poleaxed, simply stared.  
  
"Nonsense, I'm right-" Casey broke off, and her skin paled alarmingly. "Gina," she whispered, and darted past them into the room. Sharing a startled and confused glance, Eliot and Olivia followed.  
  
The paramedics let Casey through when they saw that the two were- had to be- identical twins, and Casey stared at the other girl's face with a kind of hopeless despair.  
  
"Who is she, Casey?" Olivia asked quietly, squatting beside her and laying a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Casey blinked hard and brought her head around to face Olivia. "My sister. Regina Novak." Her eyes wandered over the corpses behind Olivia, avoiding eye-contact, and she stiffened when she saw the fragile-looking body of the blond. "And that's Ashely Mabre."  
  
"Who's she?" Eliot asked, pulling out his notebook.  
  
"Gina's girlfriend." Casey looked back at Regina, her eyes tearing for the first time. "God, sweetheart," she murmured, brushing her fingers across a forehead that was so eeriely identical to her own. "I'm so sorry." She sniffed and wiped her cheek, ignoring the streak of blood that her hand left, and then her spine stiffened stubbornly. "But you can't go, you hear me, love?" she coaxed, a hint of steel in her otherwise gentle tone. "You can't go." Repeating it like a mantra, Casey collapsed against Olivia's side, sobbing.  
  
Olivia wrapped her arms around the ADA, murmuring soothingly, alarmed at the powerful, silent sobs that threatened to shake the slim red-head apart. Eliot moved in on Casey's other side, offering his support.  
  
"I've got a pulse!" a 'medic shouted, and for all three bystanders, time seemed to freeze as they stared at the young woman's face. At that moment, the world seemed so still to Olivia that it startled her when the red-head coughed feebly and blinked.  
  
Crying out in joy, Casey leapt away from Olivia and kissed her twin on the forehead, laughing foolishly in relief.  
  
"Go where?" Regina muttered, raising a weak hand to wipe tears off of Casey's face.  
  
"You know," Casey sobbed, allowing Olivia to pull her away as the paramedics carefully but briskly loaded the young woman onto the stretcher and carried her out of the apartment.  
  
"Do you want to ride with her?" Olivia asked, for Casey had gone so limp that the brunette detective was seriously considering just picking her up and carrying her. Then she realized that Casey was half-asleep, worn out in the space of five minutes. "Eliot?" She looked around for her partner, who raised his eyebrows. "Call Munch and Fin, have them work the scene."  
  
"I'll ride," he said agreeably. "Make sure she's okay," he instructed, frowning as Olivia scooped the ADA up with a grunt of effort.  
  
"I'll get her to the hospital," Olivia called after him, settling Casey into a more comfortable hold before starting down the stairs. Casey's only response was to sigh and tuck her chin against Olivia's shoulder, having lost the fight trying to keep her eyes open.  
  
Settling the ADA in the passenger seat of her car, Olivia carefully wiped the streak of blood away from Casey's cheek with a tissue before crossing to the driver's side and starting the car.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Please review. It means so much. 


	3. Flowers

Here's chapter three. Don't all review at once, people.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Three: Casey  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A stiff chair was the first thing Casey's mind registered as she slowly returned to wakefulness; then the unmistakable sounds and smells of a hospital's waiting room filtered through. Casey opened her eyes to see Olivia Benson sitting the the chair next to her, idly thumbing through a magazine.  
  
As if suddenly aware of Casey's gaze, the dark-eyed detective turned. "Hey." There was weariness in that single syllable, and Casey felt guilty for the rest she'd gotten.  
  
"How long?" she asked, for she couldn't quite bring herself to ask the question she really wanted to.  
  
Olivia checked her watch. "Couple of hours. Regina's still in surgery, but she's gonna be okay." She tossed the magazine back on the table and picked up a styrofoam coffee cup. "Here. It should still be hot."  
  
Casey's fingers brushed Olivia's as she wrapped her fingers around the cup, but Olivia turned away before Casey could see her face, pulling her notebook out of her jacket pocket. "I need you to answer a couple of questions, if you can."  
  
Blinking rapidly and using the coffee cup as a temprary shield to regain her composure by, she nodded. "Sure. Fire away."  
  
"Do you have any idea where Regina was last night?"  
  
"Yeah." Casey rubbed her eyes as she collected her thoughts, a little rattled that life had been so normal less than twenty-four hours ago. "She called me at about five, after she got off work. Said she had tickets to a show, and asked me if I wanted to come. When I said I was busy, she said that was okay, that she'd just force Ashely to come." She sniffed. "Ashely hates the theater. Hated," she corrected, wincing. "God, Gina's going to be heartbroken."  
  
"What time was the show?" Olivia said, gently pushing her back to the present.  
  
"Eight. They had dinner reservations at some Italian place beforehand. I can't remember the name."  
  
"This one might be a little tough, okay?" Olivia said, meeting her eyes sympathetically. "Were Regina and Ashely ever... publicly open about their relationship?"  
  
"Not in the beginning, no. They were both closeted at the time, and scared to death about coming out. It's only in the last year that they've really been openly affectionate."  
  
"The last year? How long have they been together?"  
  
"Coming up on four years now. I already considered Ashely my sister, even if she couldn't be an in-law. This can't be happening," she said numbly, drawing her knees up to her chest protectively. "Everything was so great yesterday, and today... I feel like everything's falling apart, you know?"  
  
Olivia placed a hand on her arm. "I can guess. I felt something similar when my mother died. I even wanted to quit my job."  
  
Casey blinked. "My job?" She checked Olivia's watch and swore, starting up out of her chair and raising one hand to check her hair, which was probably a mess. "I missed a hearing."  
  
Olivia pulled her back into her seat. "Cragen called the DA and explained. They sent a replacement."  
  
Casey sighed, but allowed herself to be pulled. "I don't have a good enough track record to be missing hearings."  
  
"Hey, you're not that bad," Olivia said, with an amused half-smile. "You're just new."  
  
"That's what everyone says." Casey frowned at her shoes, unhappy with her performance at work.  
  
"Then maybe you should listen to everyone," Olivia said, voice vibrating as she fought laughter.  
  
Casey turned. "Are you laughing at me?!" she asked, in a mock-incredulous tone of voice.  
  
"Yes," Olivia said, grinning, and she finally let out a low chuckle when Casey pretended to pout.  
  
"You wound me," Casey said dryly, one hand over her heart. "You have no idea how much that hurts me."  
  
Olivia sobered abruptly, and Casey turned to see a young doctor heading her way. Swallowing hard, she stood, Olivia a second behind her. "Your sister's going to be fine," he said as soon as he got close enough. Casey sagged briefly in relief, and Olivia pushed her back upright. "She is heavily sedated, but you can see her now." He pointed the way to Gina's room, and Casey practically flew down the hall.  
  
"Hey, Case," Gina said, blinking owlishly. "Bout time you showed up. Where're my flowers?"  
  
"Sorry, babe," Casey said, grinning. "I'll get you flowers next time I go out, I promise."  
  
"Okay," Gina said agreeably. "If you promise. Who're you?" She spoke to Olivia, who had just appeared in the doorway.  
  
"My name's Olivia Benson. I'm a detective."  
  
"Right, right. Casey's mentioned you. Nice to meetcha. I'm Gina." Casey breathed a mental sigh of relief when Gina didn't elaborate on how many times she had 'mentioned' her.  
  
Olivia smiled. "I know. Casey told me. How are you?"  
  
"Whooo!" Gina said, waving her unbandaged hand over her head. "Higher than the exosphere. You?"  
  
"Not even through the troposphere," Olivia joked, startling Casey, who had never thought that Olivia might know about things other than sex crimes. "Do you remember what happened?"  
  
"Some. Not all. Don't want to. Let's talk about something else. How 'bout them Yankees?"  
  
"How 'bout 'em?" Olivia said, apparently not bothered by the subject change.   
  
Gina shrugged comically. "I dunno. Casey's the sporty one. I'm the cute one."  
  
"You're identical," Olivia pointed out with a chuckle.  
  
"Yeah, but Case doesn't smile enough."  
  
"No, she doesn't," Olivia agreed, shooting Casey an amused and pointed glance. "I think she takes her job too seriously."  
  
"I know! I keep telling her... but maybe she'll listen to you. She doesn't hear a word I say, I swear. Would you also inform her, in total seriousness, that she needs to get laid?" Casey gasped and pretended to take a swing at Gina while Olivia laughed at the heavily-medicated girl's not-so-subtle jibes at her sister.  
  
"You expect me to buy you flowers after that one?" Casey asked, red-faced as she tried to contain her laughter and embarrassment.  
  
"Yes, because you loooove me," Gina said, grinning.  
  
"You bet your ass I do," Casey said, hugging her incorrigible sister.  
  
Eliot knocked quietly on the doorframe, and gestured at Olivia. "Gotta go," she said, with a slight half-smile and the same weary expression in her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Gina. See you, Casey."  
  
"Bye," Gina said, waving. As soon as Olivia was gone, Gina turned to Casey. "Now I see what all the fuss is about."  
  
"Gina! If you say anything to her..."  
  
"I won't, I won't." She pulled her white blanket up to her chin. "You know she likes you, though, right?"   
  
Before Casey could say anything, Gina yawned and fell asleep.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Lemme know. 


	4. Interview

Okay, here's chapter four. First, let me say that Gina was made an artist in direct reflection of my mother and something she said about artists saving their feelings for their artwork.  
  
Julie, I'm an Alex fan, too, but I like Casey's body language and facial expressions better, and she's just an easier character to write for.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Four: Olivia  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Olivia raked her hand through her short hair, in a familiar, frustrated gesture, forcing her eyes to read through the same paragraph in the coroner's report on Ashely Mabre, hoping this time her brain would actually process the words into recognizable English. Raising her eyes, she checked the wall clock. It was nine o'clock in the morning, about the time when most people arrived at work.   
  
Olivia had never left. After working almost twenty-four hours, she was tired, she was dirty, and she had waaaay too much caffiene in her system.  
  
"Anything?" Eliot asked, dropping his folder onto his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off an approaching eyestrain headache.  
  
"No." Olivia gave up on the report and tossed it on her desk. "Bastard wore a condom. No fluids, no hair, no nothing. What about you?" Eliot shook his head and knocked back the last of his coffee.  
  
"Nothing at the crime scene, either," Munch said, dropping a new pile of folders on his desk and sitting in his chair with gusto. "Just a couple of bloody footprints- size eleven dress shoes- and a handprint that brought up no matches on the database. Apartment was being renovated, no lease had been signed, but we did get a list of people who had looked at the place."  
  
"Eliminating four names based on sex, that leaves us with three potentials there, but there's no guarantee that's how the killer found out about the apartment," Fin added with his usual pessimism. "Could have been someone who worked on the renovations, someone who knows someone who worked on the renovations... The list goes on."  
  
"As does this night. Day," Munch said, slurping his coffee loudly and wincing at the taste. "This coffee's terrible."  
  
"You made it," Olivia said, allowing a bit of a smile to appear. "If you're going out, get me some." Resigning herself back to work, she pulled over the next report, this one on a Janine Diamond. Scanning the report, she shot upright. "I think I got something. Listen: 'Three hairs where found on the victim's pubic region, but they were eliminated as belonging to another of the victims, one Mishelle Davidow.'"  
  
"So?" Cragen prompted, having come over after hearing the words 'I think I got something'.  
  
"So, Janine Diamond was a homosexual. Mishelle Davidow was her girlfriend. Ashely Mabre was Regina Novak's girlfriend. I'll bet you anything the last two were a couple as well." She slapped the table to emphasize. "It's the link we were looking for. This guy is targeting homosexual women." She suppressed the shudder than ran down her spine at that statement.  
  
"Okay. Fin and Munch, call the victims' families and friends. See if they confirm this. Olivia, good job. Now go handle that." Cragen pointed towards the door.  
  
Confused, Olivia turned to see Regina Novak standing just outside the door, chewing her lip and seeming to debate about going in or not, fingering the strap on the messenger bag that was slung on her hip. "What is she doing here?" Eliot muttered. "She just got out of the hospital."  
  
"Let's go ask. Hey, Gina," she called, striding over and surveying the young woman, whose jeans and brown leather jacket were so different from Casey's normal attire that the effect was startling. "You look terrible."  
  
"You aren't looking so good yourself, detective," Gina said, lifting a corner of her mouth in greeting, a gesture that barely touched her eyes, which harbored a sorrow the drugs had lifted. "Casey said I needed to make a statement or something?"  
  
"When you felt up to it. You should still be in bed," Olivia said, gripping Gina's elbow and guiding her into the room, not commenting on the slight limp that marred the red-head's lanky stride.  
  
"I can't..." She paused, and took a deep breath. "I can't be at home. Half the stuff there is Ashe's, and... I can't stop thinking that she's not gonna be there ever again." She gave herself a convulsive shake and forced a smile to appear. "And Casey's at work and she has tons of stuff to do, so I figured I'd get this over with."  
  
"I'd offer you coffee, but the last pot we've got is almost five hours burnt, so..."  
  
"So I'll pass on the coffee," Gina finished with an amused smile. "Just tell me what to do."  
  
"First of all, let me introduce you to the rest of the squad. Guys, this is Regina Novak, Casey Novak's sister."   
  
"Casey never mentioned she had a clone," Eliot said with a surprisingly good-natured smile, despite his lack of sleep. "I'm Eliot Stabler."  
  
"Casey doesn't talk much," Gina said with a shrug as she returned his handshake.  
  
"Fin Tutuola," Fin said shortly, but with a smile. Gina didn't seem offended by his curt introduction, and she greeted Munch cordially enough.  
  
"You guys look like shit," she said frankly. "I thought I looked bad, but you are all in serious need of sleep, and that's an understatement."  
  
"I'll sleep when this creep is at Rikers," Munch said. "In the mean time, I'm getting coffee. Who wants?" After taking the squad's orders, he grabbed up his coat and strode out the door.  
  
"Okay, first I want to ask you if you could describe the guy for a sketch artist," Olivia said, turning back to Gina.  
  
"Oh!" Gina pulled her messenger bag over her head and pulled out a sketchbook. "Here." She flipped to a page. "That's him."  
  
Olivia pulled the book over and studied the guy. "He's a looker," she commented. "You drew this?"  
  
Gina shrugged. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep. If you could photocopy it, or something? I kinda want to keep it in there with the others."  
  
"What others?" Olivia turned the page and came face to face with the guy again, only this drawing was much more artistic, with jagged lines and a hateful sneer on his face. There were at least half a dozen of them, each one slightly different cast to his mood. "You're really good," she commented, turning back to the realistic, emotionless sketch.  
  
"Thanks," Gina said with a shrug. "I like doing people. So many different ways to do it, you know? You might not wanna look at the others. Some are of Ashely and they're... personal."  
  
Olivia promised not to look, though she wondered what Gina's art looked like when she was drawing someone she loved, as opposed to someone she hated, and handed the sketchpad to Fin to scan into the computer. "C'mon. Let's go talk someplace private and you can tell me what happened."  
  
Half an hour later, Olivia couldn't help but feel guilty as she pushed a box of tissue towards the silently weeping artist. The sketchbook had been returned, and Gina was running a pencil along the surface of a page, though she'd tilted it so Olivia couldn't see.  
  
"One more question," Olivia said after Gina had wiped her eyes. "Did he say anything in particular that stuck out in your mind?"  
  
Without taking her eyes off her pad, Gina frowned. "Yeah. He kept calling me a dyke. He also said that 'they' could never say no to him if he killed them all. He never said who 'they' were." Suddenly she stopped drawing and looked up, eyes wide. "He meant lesbians, didn't he? Oh, God." She shook her head dazedly, then locked eyes with Olivia again. "If there's anything I can do, anything at all..."  
  
"You've already done more than we would have asked," Olivia said sincerely, thinking back over the details of her report, and remembering the sketch which was, as of right now, being circulated.  
  
"It doesn't feel like enough," Gina said, more to herself than to Olivia. Then she studied her pad, added something quickly, and tore the page out. "Here. This is for you."  
  
Olivia took it and came face to face with herself. There was a drawing of her head that took up half the page, and then there was a full-body sketch of herself with a cup of coffee in one hand and a folder tucked under the other. "You did this just now?"  
  
"Yeah. I had to do something with my hands." Gina shrugged. "You like it, then?"  
  
"Yeah. Except... I really look like that? You made me look too good."  
  
"Hey, I draw exactly what I see. That's you. Ask anybody." She checked her watch. "Can I call Casey now? She's on her lunch break, and no way am I letting her work through another one."  
  
Olivia laughed. "Yeah. Go ahead. We're done here. Thanks for this," she added, waving the sketch as Gina opened the door to the interview room. Gina's only response was a slight smile and a barely noticeable wink.  
  
"Hey, Eliot," Olivia said as she exited the room. "Do I really look like this?"  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Review, people. 


	5. Fallout

Hey, an overwhelming amount of people (I admit, myself sometimes included) have reviewed, telling me they are still Alex fans. But I'm doing a Casey fic because A) no one else is, and B) I have a thing for red-heads. Besides, we know a little too much about Alex for me to be able to play around with her character like I can with Casey's. Open minds, people, open minds.  
  
chicating- What does slash-impaired mean, exactly? It's kind of a funny way of phrasing it. Glad you like the fic, though. There ARE too many Benson/Stabler fics out there right now, even though Eliot's wife (what we've seen of her) seems like a great lady.  
  
My comp won't let me save in html format, so anything that the characters are thinking, I'm going to put in brackets like [so].   
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Five: Casey  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Casey reflexively straightened her clothes before she stepped into the SVU squadroom, scanning for a sight of her sister's familiar form. She soon found her perched on the edge of Olivia's desk, saying something that evidently the squad found hilarious.  
  
She took a moment to study the scene, and to wonder at her sister's ability to have the whole squad at such ease in her company, while they still stiffened every time Casey came into the room. Then Olivia caught sight of her and waved her over, laughing too hard to articulate an invitation.  
  
Smiling, Casey walked over. "Hey, you," she said to Gina. "What are you telling them?"  
  
"Nothing," Gina said quickly, with a far too innocent look in her eyes.  
  
"Gina was just telling us about the time you talked your way out of a dentist's appointment after reading one of your dad's law books," Munch said, with a mischevious expression on his face.  
  
"God, I had such a bad cavity, too," Casey said with a smile. "But my father realized that I was meant to be a lawyer, so that's what started this whole mad ADA thing. You ready to go?" she asked Gina. "I only have an hour, you know."  
  
Gina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Case. Anybody else wanna come?" she asked.  
  
Eliot, Fin and Munch shook their heads, pointing to brown deli take-out bags on their desks, so Gina turned to Olivia, who didn't have one. "Liv? You coming?"   
  
[Liv?] Casey thought with a barely suppressed spurt of jealously for her charismatic sister.  
  
Olivia shrugged and pushed her stack of papers back. "Might as well. Eliot, remind Cragen how long I've been working if he asks what I was thinking, okay?"  
  
"Have fun," Eliot said wistfully, turning back to the stack of folders and wrinkling his nose at his deli bag. "I'll be here. Going over cold cases. Again." Olivia chuckled and pulled her jacket on.  
  
"Where are we going?" Gina asked, then shot Casey a look. "And if you say 'some place fast,' I'll tell them all about the senior prom incident."  
  
Casey winced and changed what she was about to say. "You wanna go to the Fallout?" she directed her question to both Gina and Olivia.  
  
Olivia shrugged. "Wherever. What's 'the senior prom incident?'" She raised an eyebrow at Casey, obviously curious.  
  
Casey whacked Gina in the back of the head when she would have spoken. "Let's just say it involves a sequined dress, a bathroom stall, and one very mad football captain, okay?"  
  
Olivia shook her head, grinning. "That just makes it worse, Case. Don't forget, I'm a detective. I'll find out."  
  
Casey raised her eyebrows and looked away so Olivia couldn't see the expression on her face. [Case?] Gina stumbled slightly and bumped into her, a slight conspiratorial grin on her face. [Oh, no.] Gina was playing matchmaker again. She pushed her sister back upright, managing to pinch her in the process.  
  
"Ow!" Gina said, rubbing the spot. "Fallout it is, then. Anybody have a car?"  
  
"I do," Olivia said. "Well, it's technically Eliot's car too, but he won't mind much." She pulled a set of keys out of her jacket and pointed the way down the street.  
  
Giving Olivia directions to Casey's favorite bar and grill meant that Casey sat in the passenger seat, while Gina lounged in the back, sketchbook open on her lap and pencil moving quickly. "Does she always do that?" Olivia asked as she pulled into a parking space.  
  
Casey shrugged. "Pretty much. It gets so you barely notice, after a while. You can still talk to her while she does it, so it's only distracting when you want to see what she's doing, because she never lets you see. Right, Gina?"  
  
"Right, Case," Gina said, looking up quickly. "Are we gonna get out of the car, or what?"  
  
Olivia chuckled and killed the engine, climbing out of the car. Casey and Gina followed.  
  
"Casey!" The bartender waved cheerfully. "Good to see you again. And Gina, too? How are you?"  
  
"Chuggin' along, Ben," Gina said, with what looked to Casey like a very forced grin. "Think you can manage three people?"  
  
Ben grinned. "Take your usual table. I'll be over in a minute."  
  
"Come here often or something?" Olivia muttered, grinning, as Gina dove into one side of the booth, stretching out sideways so she filled the whole seat, her sneakered feet hanging out into the aisle.  
  
"What? I'm a convalescent!" she said innocently as Casey gave her a warning look.  
  
"You're also not very polite," Casey retorted, sliding into the booth next to Olivia, which she knew was just what Gina wanted.   
  
"Blame my trauma," Gina said, with a shrug that signalled the end of the arguement. "What do I want?"  
  
"Besides your own art museum?" Casey grinned. "It's Tuesday, so get the grilled chicken sandwich. The chicken just got delivered yesterday afternoon." Off Olivia's look, she explained, "I come here often."  
  
Olivia chuckled. "In that case, I'll take your word for it on the food."  
  
Gina jumped slightly and grabbed for her sketchpad. Casey ignored her, too used to her sister's flashes of inspiration to get curious.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Please review. (See, I have manners!) 


	6. Artist

Mmmk, people. I'm drawing very heavily on Gina's artwork in this chapter, trying to give you a better feel for Casey's twin. If it confuses you, just hang in there, b/c I'm posting the next chapter tomorrow or the next day at the lastest.  
  
Review or be square. (I know, doesn't rhyme. Phooey.)  
  
Disclaimer: Own nothing but the thoughts in my head. What few of them I haven't picked up from tv and trashy novels.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Six: Olivia  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"This is the place," Eliot commented, reaching out and pressing the buzzer. "Regina Novak's loft." Olivia shifted, unhappy with the news she was bringing and wishing there was a way out of it.   
  
"Two seconds!" Gina's voice called. "If that's Olivia and Eliot, come on in! If it's the press, I work in steel sculpture sometimes and you've never felt pain until you get burned by a blowtorch!"  
  
"It's us," Olivia said with a smile, pushing the door open and blinking at the surprisingly airy room. The floors were wood, the walls white, and the two couches and coffee table were low and simple.   
  
Eliot whistled as he surveyed the canvases that adorned the walls. "She's good."  
  
"You knew that already," Olivia said, studying a charcoal picture of Casey in her business suit and carrying her briefcase. The ADA's posture was stiff, and the hand holding the briefcase was clenched tight, her nervousness almost caricature, as if Gina wanted to call attention to it. "You saw the sketch she gave me. She did that inside fifteen minutes. No telling what she can do when she has the time."  
  
"This the girlfriend?" Eliot said, pausing in front of an inked drawing, this one set in a prominent place across from the front door.   
  
"Yeah, that's Ashely," Olivia said heavily, sighing at the tragic loss of life. It was obvious, even if they hadn't already known, that Gina and Ashely had been committed; the love that radiated through the simple, graceful lines of the piece was almost heartbreaking in a way Olivia couldn't verbalize.  
  
"Beautiful girl," Eliot said quietly.   
  
"Yes, she was," Gina said, sticking her head in the room. "And through that piece, and others, she always will be." A brief, sad smile, and then she turned back into the other room. "I want to finish this piece real quick. Make yourselves at home. If you see anything you like, fifty percent of all proceeds from sales go to respectable charities, but I'm not selling that one."  
  
"These are all people you know," Olivia commented, noticing the repitition of Ashely and Casey in the pieces, along with other people.  
  
"Or knew," Gina confirmed from somewhere near the back of the loft. "Most of those are older pieces, some I did in my college days. I've lost contact with most of the people in them."  
  
"This is your way of preserving memories," Olivia said slowly, noting the scenes. A party with laughing people clinking champagne glasses; a professor with glasses and a huge mustache giving what was obviously a very empassioned lecture; an Ashely with shorter hair trying to coax a pigeon onto her finger and keep from laughing at the same time. She paused at the next one, which was set on the opposite side of Ashely's. It showed Casey curled up on a window seat, in a disheviled business suit, combing her hair away from her face with one hand as she cried. There was a date underneath Gina's nearly illegible signature: it had been done the day Casey had rescued that little girl on her first case.  
  
"Not all memories are good," Gina said, and Olivia jumped; Gina was standing right behind her, wiping charcoal dust off her hands. "But by seeing them somewhere besides inside my head, I'm guaranteed not to lose them. That one-" She gestured at the piece Olivia had been looking at. "-catches Casey in a moment most people don't see. She's very meticulous about that."  
  
"About her emotions?" Olivia asked.  
  
Gina shook her head. "About letting people see them. What can I do for you?"  
  
Olivia blinked and winced, having forgotten about her unhappy errand. "Have a seat. We found something we think you should know about."  
  
Gina nodded bitterly and backed up onto one of the couches, folding her legs under her. "I figured that you two didn't come by just to chat and buy my art. What is it?" She motioned for Eliot and Olivia to sit on the other couch.  
  
Olivia sat down heavily, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. "First of all, was your relationship with Ashely exclusive?"  
  
Gina cocked her head. "We didn't see other people, if that's what you mean."  
  
"No threesomes, no love triangles," Eliot prompted, leaning against the back of the couch.  
  
"No," Gina said coldly. "Just because I live what some would deem an 'alternative lifestyle' doesn't mean that I don't believe in love or monogamy. It wouldn't feel right, being with more than one person. I loved Ashely."  
  
"Okay," Olivia said soothingly, shooting Eliot a warning glance. Then she inhaled, and got down to it. "Did you and Ashely ever talk about children?"  
  
"Sure," Gina replied, frowning. "Ashely had been talking about it a lot, lately."  
  
"Define 'lately,'" Eliot said.  
  
Gina shrugged. "She started about four months ago. It died down for a while, until all she did was drop occasional hints, but we had a big discussion about it a week ago."  
  
"A fight?" Olivia asked.  
  
"No," Gina said, shaking her head adamantly. "I want kids, too. But I wanted to wait until my big show in June, because then I'd have a better chance of supporting a family. Ashely's job was crap, and they don't call it a starving artist for nothing. Casey made the down payment on this place and it's a struggle for me to meet the monthlies. Why?" she said abruptly, bringing her head back up.   
  
Olivia looked down. "Ashely was about two months pregnant."  
  
Gina's jaw dropped slightly. Her spine, which had been held straight and dignified, went lax and her head dropped into her lap, her fingers digging into her scalp. "Gina?" Olivia said softly, reaching out to touch the woman's shoulder. "You didn't know," she continued when Gina didn't twitch.  
  
"No," Gina confirmed, bringing her head up. "I should have guessed, though. I lived with her, for God's sake!" She stood up and strode through to the other room, her movements rushed.  
  
"Maybe she didn't know herself," Olivia suggested, following and leaning against the doorframe, watching as Gina took down the canvas on the easel and placed a clean one on it.  
  
Gina shook her head. "She knew. I found an envelope from a fertility clinic in the kitchen, one of the places Ashely had shown me. She said she'd asked for more information and they'd sent it to her. Ashely may have lied, Liv, but she didn't cheat. You can check clinic records, if you can get them." Gina ran a piece of charcoal over the canvas furiously.  
  
"You gonna be okay?" Olivia asked, recognizing Gina's curt words for the dismissal they were.  
  
Gina looked up, and her jawline softened slightly. "Yeah. I'll call Casey if I need anything. Does she know?"  
  
Olivia shrugged. "I figured you'd be the one to tell her. It's a little hard to talk to her about personal things."  
  
"She'd listen if you talked," Gina called just before Olivia closed the door behind her.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Review, people. Puh-lease?! It's not like I'm being paid or anything, but your reviews mean so much! 


	7. Breakdown

I love reviews. And reviewers. La-la-la-la-la! You guys do a great job of picking me up after a hard night, and I appreciate it oh-so-much.  
  
Oh, I don't own Monty Python. Just so I have all my bases covered.   
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Seven: Casey  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
It had been a particularly trying day, despite an enjoyable lunch, and it was ten o'clock and Casey's feet were dragging by the time she got to Gina's loft. Sorting through the ring of keys, she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, wanting nothing more than to get inside and take her heels off.  
  
Finally finding the right key, she unlocked the door and stumbled inside, kicking her shoes off and padding through the front room in her hose. "Gina?"  
  
"Here, Case," Gina yelled back, sounding weary and frustrated.  
  
Casey entered the next room- Gina's 'workroom'- and stopped at the doorway, shocked. The wood floor, which Gina normally kept bare, was covered with canvases. "Gina, love? What happened?"  
  
Gina was seated in the center of the mad spiral, hugging her knees to her chest and staring at a blank canvas with a haunted look in her eyes, though she tried to smile as she looked up. "I think I forgot to take my medication," she offered weakly.  
  
As Casey skirted the pile, picking her way towards her sister, she looked at the nearest canvases' images. Smiling Ashely. Laughing Ashely. Ashely playing with a kid in Central Park. Dead Ashely, hair fanned out around her. Ashely holding a baby. Ashely half-naked on a rumpled bed, looking straight at the artist and smiling enticingly, as if trying to get Gina to stop drawing, for God's sake, and get over there. All were beautiful, but all communicated a sense of hopelessness, like you were looking at this beautiful girl through a window and knew you could never get to her.  
  
Finally getting to her sister, Casey half-fell and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I miss her, too." Casey was sobbing by now, and tears were silently trickling down Gina's cheeks.   
  
"Why, Case? Why her and not me? I don't remember how to live without her!"  
  
"I know, baby. It's gonna be hard, but we'll get through it. I promise."  
  
"She was pregnant, Case!" Gina sobbed. "She- and I- I didn't-"  
  
Casey tightened her arms, feeling her sister's pain down to the center of her soul, doubled by her own. Her adopted sister, her unborn niece or nephew. Her twin sister's lifelong partner, her twin sister's unborn son or daughter. That last bit of knowledge had shattered whatever control Gina had been able to hold onto, and the end result was trembling with sorrow and exhaustion. "When did you find out?"  
  
Gina sniffed, not lifting her head from Casey's shoulder. "Olivia and Eliot came by around eleven and told me. I think I've been working ever since. I don't really remember."  
  
"Did you eat lunch?" At Gina's headshake, Casey stood up. "And I know you didn't eat dinner. Come on." She hauled Gina to her feet. "You are going to watch Holy Grail, and I am going to order Chinese food and stack all these canvases. I'll get you a pain pill, too," she added as Gina took a step and winced. "Go, sofa, ottoman, now."  
  
Gina shuffled miserably into the back room, which was where she lived, and once she had collapsed on the overstuffed couch, Casey turned on the tv and pressed play on the VCR- she didn't even have to check to make sure it was the right tape. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was the only movie Gina ever watched, and Gina sighed audibly in relief, with her eyes closed, as the first clip-clop echoes came on as Aurthur and Patsy entered.  
  
Satisfied that her sister was settled for now, Casey returned to the workroom and carefully cleared a wide pathway through the canvases, stacking the ones she removed in a corner. She worked with a tight jaw, for each picture just made her sister's pain more apparent, but when she could finally walk from one room to another without watching her feet too closely, she retrieved the bottle of Tylenol with codeine the hospital had given Gina and carried it to her.  
  
She was asleep, her lips moving soundlessly in sync with Aurthur as he parted ways with the Black Knight. "Monty Python to the rescue," Casey muttered, draping a throw over her sister. "Someone has an obsession."  
  
She collapsed on the sofa next to Gina, and watched the movie, too tired to laugh but too wired to sleep. The Frenchmen had catapulted the great wooden rabbit at Aurthur and his knights ("Run away!") when there was a knock on the door.  
  
Blinking rapidly, Casey pushed herself upright and slid over the wooden floors, still in her hose, until she got to the door. Without even looking through the peephole, she yanked it open.  
  
"Olivia?" she asked, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again. "What's a'matter?"  
  
Olivia frowned. "Casey? You look awful."  
  
"I know. So do you. What?" She looked blearily from Olivia to Eliot and back.  
  
"We think we got him," Eliot said, a tired but triumphant smile appearing on his face. "We need Gina to come in and look at a lineup."  
  
Casey blinked, then stood aside. "Come in. I think you have to see this for yourself." She led the way into the workroom, and Olivia whistled.   
  
"What exploded?"  
  
"Gina did," Casey said heavily. "She had a slight break-down."  
  
"Is she okay?" Olivia asked, looking alarmed and a little guilty.  
  
Casey sighed. "I don't think she'll be okay any time soon. I think the pain medication does something that keeps her from thinking about it, but she forgot to take it after you guys left."  
  
"Sorry about that," Olivia said.  
  
She shrugged. "It's okay. She needed to know. Rather you two told her than some stranger. She's in here."  
  
They followed her into the living area, and Casey gestured at Gina. "If you think you can wake her up, be my guest." Her sister, who hadn't moved so much as an inch, was frowning slightly in her sleep, and she had a smudge of charcoal across on cheekbone.   
  
When neither detective moved, Casey made a resigned, but unhappy about it, face and moved to the sofa. "Gina!" she called, knowing exactly how deep her sister slept. "Up, doll!" Gina squinched her eyes tightly shut and turned onto her side.   
  
"Won't."  
  
"You will so! Eliot and Olivia need you!"  
  
"Tell 'em I'm convalescing, and wake me up in three days so I can eat."  
  
"You already tried that excuse once, missy. You don't want to put Ashely's killer in prison?"  
  
That worked; Gina's eyes flew open, and she practically jumped upright, discarding the throw over the back of the couch. "Where're my shoes?" Gina asked rhetorically, for she had already spotted them under the table. Yanking them on, she grabbed up her bag and swept out of the room while she put it on.  
  
"You coming?!" she yelled from the front.  
  
Olivia grinned and jerked her head towards the door, and Gina was halfway down the stairs by the time they got into the hall.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Review. 


	8. Lineup

Okay, this chapter and the next are really short, mostly cause I feel like I got everything I needed into fewer words. Let me know if you think otherwise.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Eight: Olivia  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Take your time," Olivia said quietly, noticing but not commenting on Gina's tense posture as she gazed through the one way window at the row of men lined up there, her slender charcoal-covered hands plucking at the vinyl strap of her bag.  
  
Gina inhaled hugely, as though courage was something she could take from the air, then shook her head. "I don't have to. It's number four." She stared bullets at the almost achingly perfect, blond-haired and blue-eyed man, hands clenching unconciously.  
  
"You're sure?" Eliot asked, homing in on Gina's other side.   
  
Gina nodded vigorously. "Positive. You never forget someone like him. Where do I write it down?" She scribbled her choice on the space Eliot indicated, then turned to Olivia. "Now what? Will I have to testify?"  
  
"You should," Olivia said as she led Gina out into the squadroom. "Don't you want to?"  
  
Gina shrugged, a far-too-mature expression in her eyes. "I dunno. I do want to see him rot in jail," she said earnestly. "But... I keep thinking about what Ashe would do. She was never one for revenge."  
  
Olivia shook her head. "It's not revenge. You're protecting other women, giving them a chance of a future. They shouldn't have to be afraid when they should be happy."  
  
"There'll be another one like him," Gina said, sighing heavily.  
  
"There always is. Otherwise I wouldn't have a job."  
  
"Can't have that. Olivia Benson, forced to find another career? You'd die!" Gina chuckled. "Tell you what," she said seriously. "I'll put this one away, as long as you're there to catch the next one." She turned and held out a hand.   
  
Olivia smiled. "Deal." As they stepped out into the suddenly brighter-seeming street, she asked, "So... what's the senior prom incident?"  
  
Gina laughed.   
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Review please. And this is not the end, f.y.i. 


	9. Incident

Another short chapter. I decided to skip the trial because of my very very limited knowledge of courtroom proceedings, but this is second best to being there.  
  
Finally! The Senior Prom Incident revealed! Bam-ba-ba-ba-ba-BA!  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Nine: Olivia  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Olivia knocked sharply on the ADA's door, absently straightening her jacket. "Come in," Casey's voice called, and Olivia pushed the door open and shut it behind her.  
  
"Yes, Olivia?" Casey said, closing a book she'd been reading and standing up to put it back on it's shelf.  
  
"You heard about the trial?" Olivia shoved her hands into her pockets and leaned against one of the bookcases that lined the room.  
  
"I did." Casey grinned hugely in triumph. "Gina called me. Guilty on all counts."  
  
"Yeah, he'll be in Rikers for the rest of his natural life, if the People don't appeal for the death penalty."  
  
Casey shook her head at that possibility. "Gina's exact words were, 'I hope to God he gets raped everyday there.'" Casey smiled at her sister's usual blunt way of speaking. "That's Gina's idea of justice, and I admit, it's not a bad one. Homophobic asshole actually called her a dyke while he was on the stand."  
  
"Yeah, he really did jump into his own hole, didn't he?" Olivia said, regarding Casey with a slightly bemused expression.  
  
Finally, Casey took the bait. "All right. What?"  
  
Olivia grinned. "You kissed the football captain's prom date? You?"  
  
Casey groaned and turned away, but not before Olivia caught the blush that spread over her face. "I'm gonna kill Gina."  
  
"Oh, I won't tell anybody. This is too good of a blackmail to pass up. Gina has pictures, by the way." Olivia grinned even wider at Casey's discomfort. "I'm sorry, but doing something that bold really doesn't strike me as the kind of thing you'd do."  
  
Casey shrugged and leaned against her desk. "If you must know, I had been eyeing Heidi Matthews since freshman year, and it was worth the black eye her date gave me just to have her kiss me back. Of course, I did get suspended for fighting on school grounds, and had to miss graduation, but still... worth it." Casey nodded, with a smug expression on her face, then looked at Olivia. "So. Now you owe me a secret."  
  
"I do?" Olivia's eyes widened. "Says who?"  
  
"Says Gina's laws of secret keeping. And since it was Gina that told you my secret, we have to stick to her laws." Casey grinned in satisfaction, for Olivia knew she had to be blushing.  
  
"Okay," she said, figuring two could play at the discomfort game, "You want a secret?" She took a couple of steps foward, until the desk was the only divider between them. "I'll tell you where I got my first kiss."  
  
Casey cocked her head so that she was looking up at Olivia, an attitude Olivia found cat-like and alluring. "Do tell."  
  
"Janie Stratford lived down the block from me when I was in eigth grade. Her little brother had a tree house in their backyard. One day, he took Janie's diary and hid it in there, and she convinced me to help her look for it." Olivia grinned, remembering. "It was a very small treehouse."  
  
"The little minx!" Casey said, chuckling. "Was there ever really a diary?"  
  
Olivia raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Well, we never found it."  
  
"I wouldn't have either," Casey said, with a devilish look in her eyes. That was all the warning Olivia had before the ADA leaned over the desk and kissed her.  
  
Heaven. Olivia seriously considered not ever moving for the rest of her life, food water and oxygen be damned. Then Casey's phone rang, and they jumped apart like startled teenagers. Casey gave her a look that went straight to her knees, cleared her throat, and picked up the phone.   
  
"Casey Novak," she said, more than a little breathless, and Olivia hoped that whoever it was would ignore it.  
  
But the person on the other line knew Casey a little too well for that, and Gina's crow of delight caused Casey to hold the phone away from her ear. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" she yelled so loudly that Olivia heard. "Ha!"  
  
"You knew what?" Casey asked, giving Olivia an amused glance. Deciding that it was safe enough, Olivia skirted around the desk and kissed Casey again, swiftly, then trailed light kisses down her neck.  
  
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, and so does Olivia, who I know is standing right there. Hi, Olivia!"  
  
"Hey, Gina," Olivia said into the phone. "Do you think you could call back later? Casey's a little busy right now." There was an audible click as Gina hung up as fast as she could.   
  
"My sister has the worst timing," Casey muttered.  
  
Olivia chuckled. "At least she knows when to shut up." And Olivia proceeded to shut Casey up.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Review. This is not the end. 


	10. Show

Okay, part of this final (yes, final) chapter is thumbing my nose at those Eliot/Olivia people who seem not to notice that he has a very nice wife. But, since I want you to pay attention to the story, I'm doing it now instead. ELIOT AND OLIVIA ARE NEVER EVER GOING TO GET TOGETHER! MUH-WAH-HAH-HAH-HAH(*cough cough*).  
  
Here we go.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter Ten: Casey  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
For the first time since Ashely's death, Gina was smiling.   
  
Not hugely, not foolishly, but there was smile on her face that wasn't diluted by sorrow. That made Casey pretty damn happy.   
  
It was June seventeenth, and the art studio that had offered to showcase Gina's work was crowded, crowded with people who were busy admiring and buying canvases nearly as fast as Gina could put them out. Gina's smile, for once, appeared to be a permanent expression as she stood beside Ashely's portrait, which had a sign that marked it not for sale "under any circumstances"- and even then people tried to buy it.  
  
"I'd say this is a start," Olivia commented from where she was standing beside Casey. They'd decided to stop by after work, but had in no way expected the mob they were now viewing.  
  
Casey laughed and grabbed Olivia's hand, dragging her forward. "Gina!" she called as soon as they were close enough.  
  
Gina turned and broke into a grin, a real one. "Case! Look at this! Look at it!" She waved her arms excitedly. "And I've gotten ten commissions to do portraits and twelve- count 'em, twelve- phone numbers."  
  
"You've arrived, kiddo," Casey said, hugging her sister in congratulations.  
  
"Yeesh, Gina," Olivia said, ruffling the artist's hair affectionately. "You're a rich girl."  
  
"So I'll be getting my down payment on the loft back," Casey stated, laughing.  
  
"With interest, honey," Gina said. "And..." She disppeared into the back room and returned with two wrapped canvases. "Gina Novak originals." She handed one to each of them, grinning. Then a suit-wearing man approached her about one of her pieces, and she was off, fluttering about like the charismatic butterfly she had been before the attack.  
  
Olivia checked her watch. "Ah, shit. We're supposed to meet Eliot and Kathy for dinner in half an hour." She swept her eyes over the room one more time, and then headed out the door, canvas in hand.  
  
Casey had been surprised that Olivia had outted herself to her partner, and even more surprised at Eliot's casual acceptance- she'd had him pegged for the homophobic Catholic type, but he was great about it, and so was his wife, who was a sweetheart if there ever was one. Kathy had actually taken it upon herself to get to know Casey better, for, as she put it, they'd been "looking out for Olivia" for quite some time. The kids even seemed to like her okay, though Casey knew she'd never been great with kids. Gina had been introduced, of course, and the twins gravitated to her like a magnet after that, for even though Lizzie and Dickie were fraternal, not identical, they liked the idea of having another set of twins around.  
  
All in all, Casey's life was better than it had been three months ago. She missed Ashely- it still hurt like hell to think that she was gone- but she had so many more amazing people in her life, central of them being the woman who was holding her hand as they walked briskly down the street to Amici's.  
  
'If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.' [Nietzsche]  
  
Both Gina and Casey had faced the abyss, and neither had jumped in. Casey was ready to take on the world.  
  
Gina was already on top of it.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
Write me, people. Good, no good? Sequel, no sequel? (It is within my creative powers to come up with a sequel, you know.) 


End file.
